


Confession of a Broken Heart

by LizaCameron



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s07e13 The Cold, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-14
Updated: 2010-03-14
Packaged: 2019-05-30 13:49:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15097943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizaCameron/pseuds/LizaCameron
Summary: After The Cold, Josh attemps to take Donna up on her invitation.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

What in the hell had just happened? 

Stunned, Josh sat staring at the doors to the hotel lobby where Donna had just disappeared. 

She couldn't think, she wouldn't think... that he'd rejected her, would she? It had all happened so fast. One moment Donna had been looking at him, a really amazing look-- had she ever been more beautiful? A smoldering look that, in all honesty, was probably a mirror of the way he'd been looking at her. Then she was slipping him the key, taking one last sip of her wine, and was gone, leaving him to stare after her retreating form in wonder and befuddlement. 

Did that key mean what he thought it meant? She wasn't asking him to come up and… maybe refill her ice buckets, was she? No, of course it meant what he thought it meant. Donna was… Donna was propositioning him. Probably for sex. No, most assuredly for sex. Sex with Donna. He felt his whole body respond instinctually at that thought.

But that look she'd just given him. Donna Moss had just propositioned him for sex and it was quite possible that she was currently under the very erroneous assumption that he'd said no. If that's what she thought, then there was quite a good chance that this might be one more moment that slipped away from them, this time maybe for good…

"Oh, hell, no," Josh muttered under his breath and quickly jumped to his feet.

"What?" Bram looked up at him in confusion.

Josh, startled by Bram's question, glanced at him as he tried to collect his thoughts. "I have a…uh… something important… something very important. We'll see you all bright and early in the morning." 

Before anyone could say another word Josh shrugged his backpack over his shoulder and rushed off in the direction of the hotel lobby.

***

Donna stared straight ahead as she waited for the elevator. Edie was keeping up a running commentary about the logistics for tomorrow's trip to San Diego, but Donna wasn't listening. By rote she nodded her head once or twice and uttered an obligatory "uh huh" so it appeared that she was listening, but it was all for show. Her mind was otherwise occupied. Glancing down, she realized her hands were shaking. Actually physically shaking. And there was a pit the size of a black hole swirling in her stomach. What had just happened?

It had taken an hour to work up the nerve to do that. Heck, who was she kidding? It had taken years to work up the nerve. It was a moment nine years in the making. And now what… it turned out that all the reasons she’d never made a move were valid? Was it really was just another odd moment meant to be ignored and she hadn't followed protocol? Mortification bubbled from a fountain deep in her soul. 

Who was she to try some grand romantic gesture? With Josh of all people! The worst part was the humiliation of having her romantic gesture thrown back in her face. It was bad enough to be turned down, but to be turned down after such an overt gesture? 'Hi, Josh, do you want to have sex with me? No… okay.' Her face flushed. She just needed to get to her room and… maybe hide under the covers. Because she was pretty sure the symptoms of a broken heart were going to start rearing their ugly head in short order.

She should have known he'd reject her. Except… should she have known that? It didn't completely add up. The way he'd looked at her; she'd felt that look all the way down to her toes. And the kiss. The kiss was what had emboldened her in the first place, of course. Just the memory of his lips on hers caused her to heat from within. She felt a wave of butterflies hit her gut as she remembered the way his hands had caressed her neck and his fingers had traced her jaw, the way his body felt pressed firmly against hers. It was a really good kiss. The kiss all others in her life would now be measured against. She'd never been kissed quite like that before, but part of that might have been how very much she wanted the man who was doing the kissing. She shook her head; going down that path at the moment was not going to help. She just needed to get to her room where she could be alone and figure things out, but she also had to concentrate on her current surroundings. What was she doing again? Right, talking to Edie.

"Uh huh," Donna muttered automatically.

"What?" Edie looked over at her quizzically.

"What?" Donna shifted her eyes to finally focus on the other woman.

"You just said 'uh huh.' What were you uh-huhing to?" Edie asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Crap. Apparently Edie had stopped talking, but Donna hadn't stopped pretending to listen. 

"Uh… the elevator’s here," Donna pointed out a little too gleefully. Thankfully, just then, the elevator doors did indeed open. Once inside, she focused all her attention on selecting her floor from among the buttons, as if the elevator control panel were as complicated as NASA mission control.

Just as the doors were about to close she felt, more than saw, someone rush in and take a spot next to her in the elevator. Even with the movement Donna didn't take her eyes off the control panel. She just needed to get to her room. However, her pointed concentration was disturbed a split-second later when she heard Edie say, "Oh, Josh, done with the bar so soon?" 

At the mention of his name, Donna instantly stiffened, but after a second she slowly and surely turned. The other occupant of the elevator—a backpack-wielding male with reddish brown hair-- was twisted towards Edie. But indeed it was Josh. In the flesh. In the elevator. With her. 

"I was… you know, I have some… important... very important … uh… business."

As he spoke, Donna felt something bump against her arm and glanced down. She watched Josh's arm slide down her sleeve until the back of his hand was pressed lightly against the back of hers. A second later, she felt him hook his little finger around her little finger and lightly squeeze. In a moment, everything was right with her world and made sense. Her heart flipped in her chest and then began to beat in a wild rhythm.

She concentrated on the feel of his hand against hers, she reveled in the connection of their linked fingers, but as her head began to clear she came back to earth long enough to realize that a conversation was still happening right next to her. A conversation that she should probably give her attention. 

"…didn't you have time for at least one celebratory drink? It's definitely a night for celebratory drinks."

"Uh, no, I couldn't really wait another minute to conduct this… business. Wouldn't want the person I need to conduct the business with to think that I don't want to… conduct the business that is… because I do." At that he squeezed her pinkie again, and Donna had to bite her lip to stifle a smile. 

"Oh… sounds important. Anything you need help with?" Edie asked Josh eagerly and cluelessly.

"NO!" Josh replied quickly. At Edie's taken-aback look, he smiled. "No, thank you, this is something… only I can do." 

Despite her efforts to stop it, Donna felt a huge grin spread across her face, but in a millisecond she schooled her expression into one of nonchalance. There would be time for huge smiles in just a few minutes. However, she'd never wanted to be alone with someone in an elevator more in her entire life. Sufficed to say, she squeezed his pinkie back.

The doors opened and all three of them hastily got out. Donna had been so blissfully relieved and excited that she hadn't really thought about where they were going from here, and apparently neither had Josh, for that matter. His concern, first and foremost, had been getting to Donna, but that's where his design for what happened next, came to a screeching, end-of-the rail halt.

"What are you doing?" Edie asked quizzically.

"What do you mean?" Donna responded a bit defensively.

"Not you. Josh. You're not on this floor, are you? Aren't you three floors up?"

"Uh…" That was an excellent question, because indeed this was not his floor. He forced himself to try and think. The result of this concentrated effort was, "Ice."

"What?" Edie asked.

"Ice… uh… I think I will have a celebratory drink and, you know… I went for ice when we checked in and the machine on my floor is… um… broken, so I thought I'd stop on your floor for… ice."

"Oh." 

"I do business better when I have ice." By the grace of the whatever high atop the thing, Edie seemed to accept that and the three of them continued walking. Quickly, Josh worked at formulating a new plan. He was good at plans. He'd built his career on being able to devise and execute plans. This plan was simple and he came up with impressive speed; find the ice machine and hide there until the coast was clear. Of course, if this plan didn't seem exactly impressive considering his pedigree, Josh forgave himself. After all it was hard to make a plan, let alone think straight, when Donna was walking right next to him. Occasionally, her shoulder grazed his, and he couldn't stop staring at the soft wispy ends of her hair. He really wanted to run his hands through that hair. When they'd kissed that morning her hair had been back, so he hadn't really been able to touch it. But next time, things would be different. The thought of next time made his pulse quicken.

"What are you going to put it in?" Edie asked a moment later.

"Huh??" Josh shook his head in order to try and focus. "Oh…what am I going to put what in?"

"The ice," Edie clarified.

"What ice?"

"You said you were on our floor for ice. You need a way to carry it back to your room."

"Right… the ice… um," Josh gulped nervously, before blurting, "My pockets?"

At that Donna choked on some air she'd been, you know, breathing, and stopped walking. But she managed to gasp, "You're going to put ice in your pockets?"

"Yes." Josh turned to give her a pointed stare, a stare that was supposed to admonish her for making fun when she should have been helping him. After all, they were in this together, weren't they? But once he was looking into her eyes, he forgot he was supposed to be admonishing her and was mesmerized. It was the first time they'd really looked at each other since the bar. His breath hitched in his throat and the corners of his mouth twitched upwards. She was always beautiful, but tonight… tonight she was beyond that.

"Isn't that a little… gross?" Donna bantered. She congratulated herself for being able to joke, because as she said it she was looking into his eyes, his rich, melty brown eyes. Eyes that were saying they wanted her. How could she have ever doubted? 

"The… uh… the ice… will only be in my pocket a minute…"

"And messy?" Donna continued while giving him a teasing, yet seductive, smile.

"I'll make do." Josh bugged his eyes out at her and it took everything she had not to laugh out loud.

Donna shook her head, but didn't stop giving him that smile and it made his heart melt and his groin jump. From now on, he would think of it as his smile. The one she reserved just for him. With a tinkle in her eye she suggested, "Why don't you borrow the ice bucket from my room?"

"Better idea," Edie piped up. "I think I saw two ice buckets in my room. You can take one of mine."

Josh was going to kill his staff, one by one, starting with Edie and then followed by Ronna, if they didn't stop interfering.

"I wouldn't want to impose." Josh tried to sound terse, but his refusal came out rather feebly.

"No, we're right here." Edie motioned to where she was standing, in front of her hotel room door, and quickly slid her key into the lock.

Donna shook her head, and her voice was tinged with urgency. "No, really, it's okay, he can have my bucket."

"But I have two, and you only have one, what if you need yours tonight?" 

"I don't need ice. I never need ice. I like my drinks warm." 

Edie laughed dismissively. "Don't be silly, if I have two there's no reason for one of us to go without."

With a sinking feeling Josh just watched the two women going back and forth, fighting over his ice bucket; unfortunately, Donna seemed to be losing. 

Before Donna could say another word, Edie had emerged from her room with a silver ice bucket in her hands. "You're in luck, the extra bucket is already filled with ice; the maids must have filled it during their turndown service." Edie handed him the bucket and then stood in the hallway looking between the two of them.

Josh stared down into the ice bucket, it was full alright. Currently, he really hated ice. And his staff. "Okay, well, um… I've got my ice… so I'll see you two in the morning." He shot Donna what could only be described as a wistful look, but Edie didn't seem to notice.

As he reluctantly turned to go, he heard Donna implore Edie, "Can you take two minutes and show me the revised schedule for California that you sent out? I was... um… I was having trouble viewing the document on my Blackberry."

"Sure," Edie chirped and turned back into her room before calling out, "Josh, do you want to see it too?"

Not knowing what else to do, Josh was about to answer in the affirmative when Donna pressed a small envelope into his palm and answered for him. "He doesn't need to see it; he'll go where we tell him. Good night, Josh." 

She stepped into Edie's room and turned back to give a bumfuzzled Josh a shy smile and a small nod of her head down the hall, then disappeared into Edie's room, the door closing behind her.

Josh found himself a lone man with a bucket of ice and a small envelope, an envelope that contained an explicit, amazing invitation from Donna. He shook the envelope and let the key bounce onto his palm. Grinning like an idiot, he stood for only a few seconds before walking quickly to the room next door. With a bit of apprehension—he wasn't sure of the number so he hoped he'd read Donna's nod correctly-- he slipped the key into the lock. With ease the key moved the tumblers and he was able to slip into her room. 

Once in Donna's room, his first order of business was to set the ice bucket down. Right next to Donna's own brimming bucket of ice. Now what should he do? This was Donna's room! Nervously, he surveyed his surroundings. The room looked like his upstairs, but there were a few Donna touches. Her navy suitcase sat unzipped, but closed on the luggage rack. Her coat, with its distinctive pink and yellow lines lay, folded across the back of a chair and as he took all of it in, suddenly it struck him. 

This was it. He was in Donna's room to make whatever was destined to happen with he and Donna, happen. It was go time. An emotional tidal wave filled with anticipation, desire, relief, excitement, joy and maybe a little fear washed through him. Nine years of waiting and wanting and denying and there had been a time in the not too distant past when the door to their potential had seemed closed for good. The enormity of what was about to happen swirled around him. If this failed somehow, that was it. He would probably lose her, and every aspect of their relationship, for good. That thought sent a stabbing pain right through his heart.

Was the reward worth the risk?

He shrugged out of his suit jacket, folded it over the top of hers and then sat down. He needed to figure out what to do next.


	2. Confession of a Broken Heart

"Where have you been?" Josh asked anxiously, flipping off the TV as Donna finally let herself into her room.

"What do you mean, ‘where have I been?’ I've been in Edie's room, learning every detail about tomorrow’s schedule… wheels up is very early, by the way. And it's only been about five minutes."

"It felt longer than that."

She stopped to really survey him. He was sitting in the comfy chair in the corner and had apparently been watching CNN before she came in. She knew that because it was what he always watched. His jacket was off, his tie was loose and the top button of his shirt was undone. She licked her lips. She couldn’t help it; he looked really good.

"Vinick's cold appears to have been a topic on Crossfire tonight, along with the Santos surge," he informed her rather gleefully. "That's what they're calling it, the ‘Santos surge.’"

"Excellent." Donna nodded several times. Her heart was fluttering and she thought that if she checked right now, her palms might be a little damp. She didn't check. She smiled at him again and finally let out a nervous giggle.

"What?" Josh asked, sounding a bit self-conscious.

"Ice?"

"What about it?"

"That was the best you could do?" Despite herself, she giggled again.

"I thought it was pretty good under the circumstances."

"The sharpest political mind in the Democratic party comes up with ice as his cover. What would Leo and Sam and Toby say?"

"Could you not make fun of me right now?"

"If not now, when?" Now she was fully smirking at him.

He pushed himself to a standing position and grinned at her. "Is this how you normally go about getting a man into bed? 'Cause it needs some refining."

Donna's heart clenched and her earlier role of seductress deserted her. "Is… is that what we're really doing?"

Josh's breathing stopped and his eyes went wide. Had he misread the entire situation? "Um… I, uh… well… that's what I thought we were doing. But that's not to say…"

At his fumbling, which Donna found adorable, she took several steps towards him and bit her lip shyly. 

"…should we talk or something?" Josh asked. "I didn't mean to suggest… you know…"

Closer now, Donna started tugging on his tie, until the already-loose strip of fabric unraveled completely. Emboldened once again, she looked him in the eye. "Do you think we should talk?"

He gulped at her proximity and felt liquid heat coursing through his veins. Everything about her was turning him on-- the way her hands brushed against his chest as she worked on his tie; the barely-there scent that he couldn't quite identify, but that was distinctly Donna; her wispy hair and her smile, the same flirty, seductive smile from the hall. His smile. And that was when reality came crashing down around him again; this was Donna. He was doing this with his Donna. There were things to consider.

"You broke my heart." Josh blurted it out before he could stop himself. He had no idea where that came from. He hadn't meant to say it; he hadn't planned to say it. Perhaps he hadn't even realized it, but there it was.

Donna froze and stared at him. In full shock, she dropped his tie and backed two steps away from him; it took a moment for her to find her voice. "What?"

What the hell was he doing? He was in a hotel room with Donna. He had the green light to have sex with Donna. But he knew that this was more than sex; this was it. The whole kit and caboodle, and suddenly, with more clarity than he'd ever had in his life when dealing with a romantic issue, he knew that they had to have some sort of conversation. Had to have an understanding of what this was before it moved forward. It was something that he'd never in his life needed before. His voice was low and his eyes never left hers when he finally spoke. "When you left… you broke my heart."

"I was your assistant." She shook her head incredulously, as if the answer that had always sufficed could now explain it all away.

"Exactly. You were my assistant and you broke my heart, think of the damage we could do if…" He glanced at the bed. "If we were more than that."

With her heart sinking to her knees and her eyes newly trained on the carpet, she asked softly, "Does that mean you don't want to… be more than that?"

Josh shook his head quickly, but Donna wasn't looking at him. "Donna, for the first time I know for certain what I want. And I want this." At that confession she tentatively met his eyes again, and he instinctively took a step closer to her. "I just want us both on the same page. Because if this means less to you than it means to me… I just… I don't think I can go through that again."

Donna felt tears threatening behind her eyes and she was certain they were glistening, but despite that she smiled at him. She smiled because the man before her was serious. Part of her had worried that when she'd slipped him the key, he might not be ready for anything more than a tryst. But she'd wanted this so badly for so long that she hadn't necessarily cared. She had been willing to give herself to him without a conversation or an understanding; having part of Josh was better than nothing. But now the thought of having all of Josh… it was, well, perfect. Clearing her throat, she looked deep into his eyes and admitted something she'd never before said out loud. "You broke my heart, too."

Reaching up, he cupped her face with his hand and gently rubbed his thumb along her cheekbone where tears were about to spill. In a hoarse voice, he admitted, "I didn't mean to. I promise you I never wanted you hurt… I'm so sorry that I hurt you, Donna."

"I sorry I hurt you, too." She stared at him imploringly for several seconds and he wiped away a tear that had broken free and spilled onto her cheek. With wonder in her voice she asked, "Your heart was broken… really?"

Gulping, he nodded quickly. "Although I'm not sure I knew that at the time… maybe I didn't really know it until today."

Impulsively, she threw her arms around his neck and in an instant they were kissing. A jolt of sexual electricity rocketed through her entire body when their lips met and began moving together in tantalizing unison. A jolt that caused her to mold against him, trying to get as close as possible, making her desperate to touch as much of him as she could. Josh savored the feel of Donna in his arms, her body melting into his and her hands roaming with wild abandon across his back. When her mouth parted slightly, he gently swept his tongue against her lips and she whimpered delectably. He could really get used to causing her to make sounds like that.

As it turned out, confessing their broken hearts was all the communication that was necessary. The fact that they had both suffered the malady, told them each what they needed to know. They'd both hurt the same; because they'd both always felt the same.

When they broke apart, both were panting through their smiles. Donna leaned back and found his gaze. "I want this, Josh. I want you, more than anything… pretty much." She tacked the disclaimer on the end of the sentence hastily, as if she still didn't want to say too much too soon.

He grinned at her. Every emotional weight that had ever sat on his chest was gone, at least for the moment. Donna wanted him. Donna Moss wanted 'this' with him. "Pretty much? Pretty much more than anything?"

She returned his grin and teased, "Sure, I might want… I don't know… oxygen more, but that's just biology and my natural survival instinct."

"Oxygen!" He put his hand over his heart and feigned hurt.

She nudged him in the chest gently. "What about you? This or oxygen?"

"I'm hoping I never have to choose, biology and all." He smirked at her and she grinned back at him. 

After several prolonged seconds of eye contact that quickly turned smoldering, Josh asked with equal parts timidity and eagerness, "So does this mean we are having sex tonight?" 

At that graceful and suave line, Donna snorted.

"What?" Josh asked quickly.

"That kind of blows that romance, doesn't it?"

"Well… I, uh…?" Josh stuttered. The last thing he wanted to do at the moment was blow the romance.

She turned and walked to the dresser and picked up the key. The key that she'd slid towards him earlier. Returning to him, she held it out to him.

With apprehension he asked, "You want me to leave?"

"I want you to come back."

"So… you want me to leave, so I can come back?" He asked with justifiable confusion.

"Yes. Take this key, leave and come back in five minutes."

"Where should I go?"

"I don't know… you could go drop your backpack in your room and then come back."

"That's not going to take the whole five minutes. Besides, I might need my backpack," he reasoned, trying to get out of whatever trip she wanted to send him on. He was really, really ready for the sex…err… next part.

"Then check your email."

"That's going to take a lot more than five minutes."

"Right, don't do that." She bit her lip as she smiled at him. "Why don't you really go get us some ice?"

"We have two buckets of ice already… do you have some kinky ice fetish you need to tell me about?" He wagged his eyebrows at her seductively.

At that she gave him a playful yet exasperated look. Maneuvering behind him she started pushing him towards the door.

"Okay, I'll humor you. Five minutes." He turned back to her with a smirk. "Should we synchronize our watches?"

"Joooosh…" She groaned, but without any real annoyance. Even though she was anxious to get to the good stuff, he was just too cute trying to stall his departure.

"But what if I think it's been five minutes, but it's really only been four?"

"Four minutes or five minutes, the sooner you leave, the sooner you can come back. How's that?"

"That's a good argument," Josh agreed before making haste out the door.

***

It hadn't taken Josh five minutes to figure out where he should go. Wisely, he'd skedaddled out of the hall as quickly as possible to maintain discretion. So on a whim he'd gone directly to his room and packed—everything-- and was now currently on his way back to Donna's room with all his belongings. If he could get everything to her room, he reasoned, he wouldn’t have to leave in the morning dressed in the prior night’s clothes. Less sneaking around in the morning seemed like a good step towards discretion to him. Of course, he still had to smuggle all of his belongings to Donna's room on a floor that was occupied by more than a few staffers. Staffers who were still up and about.

When the elevator doors opened once again on Donna's floor, he peeked out to make sure the coast was clear. It was; not a soul occupied the hall. His heart was beating fairly rapidly; sneaking around was proving to be sort of a turn-on… as if he needed another one.

Just as he reached Donna's door he heard, "What are you doing? Are you leaving?"

Josh whipped around. Bram! Where did he come from? Damn. "Um… no… I, um…"

"Isn't that Donna's room?"

"No, it's mine."

Bram shook his head. "I thought Donna was on this floor and your room was up?"

"That's true… um … I meant, now it's mine. Mine is higher up, has a better view, and remember this afternoon when Donna wanted a view? Well, I don't really care about the view so we switched." Josh took a deep breath and hoped he was buying it.

"I thought Ronna was the one who wanted the view?"

"Uh… Donna, Ronna, who can tell the difference? I think Ronna put the idea into Donna's head. Anyway, we switched… because of the, you know, view." 

"I thought your room was on the backside of the hotel and faced that industrial building?"

Exasperated, but trying to remain nonchalant, Josh stared at the man. "And I thought you *didn't* go to every room and look out the windows?"

"I didn't, but you're on the floor with the Congressman and I remember Sherie—cute redhead who handled our rooms—asked which of you should get the better view and I said the Congressman."

"Oh… uh… well, good work. I'm sure the Congressman will appreciate it. Good night."

"But won't Donna be disappointed, because now she has a worse view than before?"

Was the idiot ever going to get the hint and go away? He mentally added Bram to his list of staffers to strangle. "Apparently it's all about the angles. Anyway, she's, uh, already up there and I gotta get settled. So good night." He turned back to the door and willed Bram to keep moving.

"Yeah, good night." Bram finally cooperated.

Josh fiddled with the key long enough to let Bram pass and move further down the hall and safely away from him. Perhaps it was true what they said and he wasn't cut out for a career in the covert fields?

As fast as he could, he let himself into Donna's room, wheeling his suitcase behind him. When he turned around and focused, his jaw dropped and his eyes went wide.

"Holy Mother of God," Josh uttered for the second time that day, but this time it came out in a slow, throaty growl. Donna had turned down the bed in the stately room and was lounging squarely in the middle. The only light in the room came from one bedside lamp and that had been dimmed. She was dressed only in black bikini underwear and matching demi-bra, both with a touch of black lace. Very simple, but it had been the closest thing she had to lingerie in her suitcase. One matching set; everything else had been pretty utilitarian for the campaign trail. 

Josh was still standing in the corner of the room, staring. He tried to swallow and wet his throat; apparently a side effect of seeing Donna almost naked was desertion of all moisture from his system. Other symptoms included a racing pulse, and sudden and unstoppable arousal.

Donna, however, was not quite as outwardly affected as he was. She sat up and surveyed him and his luggage. "Did you bring everything you own?"

He shook his head and then glanced down. "Just everything from my room."

"Why?" A crinkle appeared between Donna's brows.

"Oh…" A horrifying thought suddenly occurred to Josh. "After… did you not want me to stay? I guess I… uh… I assumed you'd be a cuddler."

A bright smile broke across Donna's face. "You assumed I'd be a cuddler?"

Reassured by her reaction, he grinned. "Well aren't you?"

"If I wasn't, I am now," she replied in a low sexy tone as she pushed herself up so she was on her knees. 

"Donna…" His voice squeaked a little as he said her name and he cleared his throat before trying again. Awestruck, Josh devoured her with his eyes. "You know I always think you're beautiful but right now you're breathtaking. Literally, you are taking my breath away."

Well pleased by his obviously sincere compliment, she climbed off the bed and crossed towards him until she was only about a foot away. "Then I guess maybe you are going to have to choose after all, 'this' with me or oxygen…."

Reaching over, he lightly traced her collarbone and then let his fingers dance across the amazingly soft skin of her shoulder. "Now that I'm faced with having to make the decision…" he held his breath subconsciously, but it made his point. "This. Demonstrably, I pick 'this' with you over oxygen." His eyes burned through hers intensely and he took another step closer, this time wrapping his arms around her waist. It was hard for him to concentrate-- on breathing, let alone conversing with her-- when he was experiencing what her bare skin felt like for the first time. But he focused. With a smile he teased, "So since I didn't pick oxygen, I guess I'm one up on you."

"What about 'this' or winning the election?" She challenged playfully, but without thinking. If she'd thought about it, she'd have realized it was a question to which she'd rather not have the answer.

"Well, it is the election…" Josh's voice trailed off as he leaned forward and kissed the soft patch of skin next to her ear.

"Yeah…" Donna nodded her head and glanced down, feeling a bit deflated. Why had she asked him such a thing? 

Josh felt her stiffen and immediately pulled back. "Donna, I'm kidding, I pick this. If it came down to winning the election or this… with you, I pick this with you."

"Really?" She asked hopefully, realizing how very much she wanted that to be the answer. In the far recesses of her dreams she'd always hoped she might one day be more important to him than politics. But she was nothing if not realistic, and a 'thing' with Josh had only been an imminent possibility for the last 16 or so hours. It had seemed too much to hope for, and certainly too soon to hope for it.

"Really," he replied with complete sincerity. 

With a smile that lit up her face, she admitted, "I have to say it surprises me a little to hear you say that."

"I’m surprised to hear me say it, too, but turns out… it's true." And it was true. Josh suddenly realized it was possible for someone to reshuffle priorities in an instant, because it had just happened to him. With that, his lips met hers in a soft, sweet kiss that promised more. When he pulled back a second later, he teased, "And it's not just because you're standing here in black lace underwear… but for future reference, it doesn't hurt your case. At all."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her for another kiss. This one instantly turned passionate as fiery tongues met and dueled and Josh ran his hands up her mostly bare back until he was finally able to feather his fingers through the silky blonde strands of her hair. Donna pulled him closer and gained leverage to deepen the kiss, her fingers playing with the soft hair that curled over his collar. 

"We should get you into something black-lace-underwear-like," she murmured against his lips as she ran her hand between their bodies and started unbuttoning his shirt.

He smiled against her mouth. "Black-lace-underwear-like? You know I'm not a cross-dresser, right?"

"I didn't know that for sure, but I'd hoped you weren't." She grinned and then stepped away in order to tug him towards the bed. "All I really meant is, we need to get you a little less clothed."

Josh was past speaking, so he nodded emphatically and cooperated as she pulled him onto the bed.

***

"Definitely, this over the campaign. Definitely. No contest," Josh murmured breathlessly into her ear as they lay naked, spent, and tangled together. 

Donna's only answer was to smile contentedly against his neck. 

A minute later Josh spoke again. "By the way, if Bram asks, we switched rooms so you could have a better view."

"What do you mean?" Donna mumbled into his skin.

"I ran into him in the hall, and obviously he was curious why I had my suitcase and was letting myself into your room. I told him we'd switched."

"Okay. So our cover stories now consist of ice, a Blackberry malfunction and switching rooms for the view?"

"Uh huh," Josh grunted as he slid his hand up and down the impossibly soft skin of her side in a tender caress. "Thing is, apparently my room upstairs looks out at a building across an alley, so the view is pretty much-"

"Nonexistent?" Donna finished for him.

"Yes."

"So is he going to buy that?" A crinkle appeared on Donna's forehead, but she still didn't move. Her limbs were alternating between liquid and Jello and she didn't have the strength to test them. But it felt damn good to be alternating between liquid and Jello.

"We're talking about Bram here. I don't think he's going to be giving it much thought."

"Right." Donna smiled against his neck once again. It faded a bit as a thought occurred to her. "What if he found out?"

"Huh?"

"What if he… or Edie… or anyone found out about this? What would happen then?"

Josh thought about it and before answering, wrapped his arms fully around her and squeezed reassuringly. "Then they find out. I think it would be easier if they didn't; we only have a few weeks to go, but it wouldn't be the end of the world."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, but how about this, for peace of mind I'll tell the Congressman on the plane tomorrow. He's the only one who shouldn't find out another way."

"It's really going to be okay? The whole inappropriate thing…"

"Appropriate, inappropriate, we'll figure it out," Josh replied confidently, but sleepily.

"We're going to be okay at this," Donna whispered resolutely.

"Yes, we are." 

With that he wrapped her even closer to him and they both drifted off for several hours of blissful, uninterrupted sleep.


End file.
